This essay first appeared in the December 2000 issue of Crisis Magazine. I doubt there are many readers of this magazine who are pro-choice. Why, then, do I write an argument against abortion for its readers? Why preach to the choir? Preaching to the choir is a legitimate enterprise. Scripture calls it “edification,”or “building … Read more
Colson’s Law is named for the man I learned it from: Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries. It is one of the fundamental laws of human history. It has always been true, and it always will be true, unless human nature itself changes in its very essence. It is the law of four “C’s”: … Read more
I doubt there are many readers here who are pro-choice. Why, then, do I write an argument against abortion? Why preach to the choir? Preaching to the choir is a legitimate enterprise. Scripture calls it “edification,” or “building up.” It is what priests, ministers, rabbis, and mullahs try to do once every week. We … Read more
Cybernetics — basically, the science of the brain qua computer — explains much more than we realized. They used to think schizophrenia was due to demons. Then it was bad parenting. Now some think it may be bad brain wiring. They used to think déjà vu (“Hey! I’ve been here before!”) was evidence of reincarnation. … Read more
Are the liberal arts and sexual morality connected? There is strong evidence that they are, for if we graph their development over the last half-century, we will see an almost identical curve of accelerating decline. Although this proves nothing, it certainly suggests something worth exploring more deeply. Spectacular proof of the decline of the liberal … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, philosopher Peter Kreeft says that if you know what an apple is, you know enough to recognize the truth of the pro-life argument. I doubt there are many readers here who are pro-choice. Why, then, do I write an argument against abortion? Why preach to the choir? Preaching … Read more
What do you get in this Crisis Magazine classic when you combine Peter Kreeft with a computer? A very entertaining meltdown. Make no mistake: I do not merely hate computers. I loathe, fear, despise, curse, and have constant torture and dismemberment fantasies about them. I know there are others out there like me, … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Peter Kreeft outlines a three step plan for winning the culture war, and it doesn’t require money, power, or the media. To win any war, the three most necessary things to know are (1) that you are at war, (2) who your enemy is, and (3) what weapons … Read more
Make no mistake: I do not merely hate computers. I loathe, fear, despise, curse, and have constant torture and dismemberment fantasies about them. I know there are others out there like me, an entire unorganized underground. I’ve talked to some of them, in conspiratorial whispers. We are not cyberterrorists viruses hurt us more than anyone … Read more
Are the liberal arts and sexual morality connected? There is strong evidence that they are, for if we graph their development over the last half-century, we will see an almost identical curve of accelerating decline. Although this proves nothing, it certainly suggests something worth exploring more deeply. Spectacular proof of the decline of the liberal … Read more
Colson’s Law is named for the man I learned it from: Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries. It is one of the fundamental laws of human history. It has always been true, and it always will be true, unless human nature itself changes in its very essence. It is the law of four “C’s”: … Read more
I doubt there are many readers of this magazine who are pro-choice. Why, then, do I write an argument against abortion for its readers? Why preach to the choir? Preaching to the choir is a legitimate enterprise. Scripture calls it “edification,” or “building up.” It is what priests, ministers, rabbis, and mullahs try to do … Read more
Harry (not his real name, but a real person) was an amateur philosopher and professional fishing guide. We had been enjoying each other’s conversation for hours and exchanging “tips” on our favorite writers. But when I mentioned C.S. Lewis, Harry’s face darkened. “What don’t you like about him?” I asked. “Oh, he’s a good writer, … Read more
Cybernetics (basically, the science of the brain qua computer) explains much more than we realized. They used to think schizophrenia was due to demons. Then it was bad parenting. Now some think it may be bad brain wiring. They used to think deja vu (“Hey! I’ve been here before!”) was evidence of reincarnation. Now we … Read more
My friend John, a very intelligent and faithful Catholic, told me the following story when he was one of my students at Boston College. John’s friend, ‘Isa—a very intelligent and faithful Muslim—expressed an interest in understanding the Catholic faith (not out of any doubt of his own) and asked John to take him to Mass. … Read more
To win any war, the three most necessary things to know are (1) that you are at war, (2) who your enemy is, and (3) what weapons or strategies can defeat him. You cannot win a war (1) if you simply sew peace banners on a battlefield, (2) if you fight civil wars against your … Read more
The following incident actually happened in one of my classes at Boston College. For purposes of inclusion in my forthcoming novel, it is slightly expanded and the names have been changed. Father Peter is essentially myself. ‘Isa (“Hee-sah”) is my protagonist. His name, a common Arabic/Muslim one, means “Jesus.” It was Tuesday evening, time for … Read more
I got the idea for this fantasy from a dear and respectable gentleman who is a college professor, like myself. He told me that he had conceived the idea of a satirical article for a professional journal of philosophy entitled, “F—ing as the Only Intrinsic Human Good.” But he decided against writing it because he … Read more
“Fanatic” is now modern society’s supreme insult—especially when combined with “religious.” The other new F-word is “fundamentalist.” When the federal government—our federal government—decided that David Koresh was a “fanatic,” they went in with guns blazing and well-known results. The explanation afterwards was that he and his group were “fundamentalists.” (Southern Baptists, beware!) The media now … Read more
“Pain is the only evil I know,” says the worldly Doctor Core to the priest in Walter M. Miller, Jr.’s science fiction classic A Canticle for Leibowitz. This is Freud’s reductionistic philosophy. The whole problem of life is reduced to the conflict between “the pleasure principle” and “the reality principle,” and the summum bonum is … Read more